Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari signed an MoU with Union civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu to set up four more airports in Bengal
Kolkata: Union civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has proposed that a Flying Training Organisation (FTO) be set up in Behala, eliciting hopes of revival of one of India’s first flying schools that had thrived till the 1950s before sputtering out in 1993. “We have placed orders for procuring 1,640 more aircraft. The airstrip in Behala can be utilised for setting up such a training facility,” the minister said after inspecting the 915-metre runway in the aerodrome on 215.6 acres of land. Naidu spent around 40 minutes at the airport on Monday evening.
While viable passenger aircraft operations were difficult as ATR aircraft require a 1,300-m runway and VFR (Visual Flight Rules) operations, which allowed a pilot to operate an aircraft relying primarily on outside visual references and clear weather, were difficult in Behala due to obstacles in the flight path, Beechcraft B200 twin-turboprop planes, popularly used at flight training institutes, could easily operate in Behala as they required a runway length of 800 m, said an official.
After inspecting the aerodrome, the minister told Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials to evaluate the possibility of setting up a certified aviation institute, authorised by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to provide structured pilot training. Once these are added to our fleet, there will be a need for many more trained pilots.